How+to+Write+a+Reflection

1.5. How to Write Reflections [| Edit][| 0] 0 [| 6]… Reflection Cliff Notes

Van Manen’s Levels of Reflectivity

Technical Reflection: Looking at what the teacher is doing while teaching, considers the best approaches to address concerns or problems.

Practical Reflection: Looking at what the students are doing in or as a result of the lesson, teacher identifies means and ultimate goals through questioning what should be learned.

Critical Reflection: Long-term political, moral, social, or ethical impact of lesson

Schön’s Reflective Action

Reflection-in-Action –reacting to situations in the classroom as they are happening and responding by accessing prior knowledge.

Reflection-on-Action –reflecting or thinking about a situation after it has occurred.

Reflection-of-Action -Building on and solving problems identified during both reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action.

Framework of Reflective Thinking (For Theory/Practice Papers/Methods Courses)


 * Level || Description ||
 * 1 || No descriptive language ||
 * 2 || Simple, lay person description ||
 * 3 || Events labeled with appropriate terms ||
 * 4 || Explanation with traditional or personal preference given with rationale ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Explanation with principle or theory given as the rationale ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Explanation with principle/theory and consideration of context factors ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Explanation with consideration of ethical. moral, political issues ||

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sparks-Langer, G.M., Simmons, J.M., Pasch, M., Colton, A., & Starko, A. (1991). Reflective pedagogical thinking: How can we promote it and measure it? Journal of Teacher Education.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Criteria for Assessing Levels of Reflection <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(For Reflecting on Readings) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Low || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1.1 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">give examples of teacher implementing or not implementing a finding from research <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1.2 describe a teacher’s practice as being only partially consistent with research <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1.3 agree with a position taken in an article by restating the author’s arguments || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2.2 analyze in detail a teaching practice <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2.3 recognize that instruction must vary based on aims and student <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> characteristics || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">High || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3.1 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">view things from multiple perspectives <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3.2 recognized that teacher actions have impact beyond instruction ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Level 1:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Level 2: Moderate || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2.2 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">provide a good critique of practice from on perspective
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Level 3:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Note. From “First steps in developing a reflective approach,” D. D. Ross, 1989, Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (2), p.24.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Assessment for Levels of Reflection <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(For Reflections during Student Teaching) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Comments based on self and feelings (Smith & Pape, 1990) || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Discriminates between effective and non-effective instruction (Ross, 1989) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Analyzes how teachers handle misbehavior in a very specific way and arrives to implications about how to deal with similar situations || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Analyzes students’ progress and its implications related to teaching behavior, instruction, and students’ characteristics and learning styles || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- “Acknowledges impact of specific situations and contexts of learning” (Smith & Pape, 1990, p. 6). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Provides recommendations/suggestions for improvement and further implementation by using if-then-because statements (Smith & Pape, 1990) ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Scale || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Levels of reflection ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">0 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No mention of pedagogical concepts or skills
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- General explanation of instructional/non-instructional events in terms of personal experiences without analyzing or predicting consequences based on teaching behavior/performance (Smith & Pape, 1990) ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Plain description of instructional/non-instructional events in a technical way without analyzing teaching performance or the rationale behind it (Ross, 1989; Smith & Pape, 1990) ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Focuses on only one aspect of teacher behavior and arrives at implications (Ross, 1989) ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Critiques teaching behavior from one perspective, that is from the students’ in terms of its impact on students and learning outcomes (Ross, 1989) as well as own students behavior is addressed ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Analyzes in detail teaching behavior from the teachers’ perspective during instructional and/or non-instructional time
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Acknowledges that instruction is based on objectives and students’ characteristics and that a variety of teaching strategies would be used to match the students’ different learning styles
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Evaluates instructional/non-instructional events from multiple perspectives